AMHERST – Given a bit of a head start, Da'Sean Downey has done all he can to create some separation between himself and the rest of the pack.

The freshman outside linebacker from White Plains, N.Y. was one of five early enrollees from the University of Massachusetts football team's 2014 recruiting class. So far, he's made the most of the bonus few months of meetings, weight lifting and spring practice with which status is packaged.

"He's played good all spring, and he's a guy that we're really excited about. We think he's got a really bright future," coach Mark Whipple said after the game. "He's come a long way from being here as a new guy in the middle of January. This wasn't too big for him. He's gotten better every day and he works hard."

Not bad for a 6-foot-5, 240-pound youngster who in the fall was finishing off a prep season at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn. Then again, Downey was a two-star prospect fielding offers from the likes of Boston College, Penn State and Duke, so perhaps his early success shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Surprising or not, Downey said the opportunity to end spring camp and his first semester with the team on a high note was invaluable.

"Being a freshman, it really boosted my confidence," he said. "A lot of guys on the team say they don't really look at me like a freshman anymore because I arrived early and was grinding with them all winter in the weight room and everything. It just gave me a lot of confidence to play with them."

Getting to campus early comes with a bevy of advantages for a young, developing player like Downey. That's especially so in a season when players up and down the roster will be working overtime to impress a new coaching staff and commit a new play book to memory.

When the rest of the Minutemen's freshman class arrives over the summer, Downey will have already hurdled many of the obstacles facing college newcomers. And by the looks of it, he may have already have his foot in the door to earning a rotational spot in the team's new 3-4 defensive scheme, too.

But more than anything else, Downey said, the bonus time has abled him to begin sculpting a high-school frame unaccustomed to much weight training into the type of powerful, agile body his coaches are looking for.

"This extra semester got me a lot stronger working with (strength and conditioning) coach (Mike) Golden and the strength staff," he said. "And I'm hoping to get a lot bigger and stronger over the summer, too."

As UMass moves into its rebuilding process under Whipple, the team will count heavily on young, promising players like Downey to grow into useful contributors (and perhaps even stars) as quickly as possible. After all, with a 2015 deadline looming to find a new conference, there's little time to waste in impressing potential suitors.

Four months in, Downey has enjoyed being part of the foundation-laying process.

"Coach Whipple's bringing a lot of excitement back to the program. I don't want to say they didn't have that last year, but I feel like everybody's more into than last year," he said. "It just seems, even on the sidelines, guys are just into it, interacting with each other and bringing each other up a lot."